


Of Blue, Blue Skies

by Winter Root (Wynt)



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Mentions of Anxiety and Depression and whatnot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Second Person, Rating May Change, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 03:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17093381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wynt/pseuds/Winter%20Root
Summary: He catches your attention first, before really anyone else does.





	Of Blue, Blue Skies

**Author's Note:**

> My fiance and I have been REALLY into Stardew lately and this fic is for them, as well as the rest of the Shane Defense Club out there!

He catches your attention first, before really anyone else does. It’s already well into the evening of your first day in Pelican Town. You should’ve stayed home for the night, the heavy fatigue of traveling and unpacking weighing on your shoulders, nearly dragging your steps. You wanted to go out and meet a few people in a desperate attempt to not hole yourself away like you did in the city. You wanted to make an  _ effort  _ to make this good for you, this time. Your grandfather had given you a second chance, and you didn’t want to waste it like you did in the city, anti-social and barely making it through your long, boring days at work.

So that’s how you found yourself walking into the saloon after dark. You knew the people were fairly nice in general, and although you were way out of your comfort zone doing this, you didn’t feel in danger at all. 

“Oh, hello! Welcome, welcome!” The bartender says, and you already know his name is Gus. “Didn’t expect you here so soon after moving!” his voice is welcoming, but loud, and you notice at the corner of your eye several heads move to look towards you. Anxiety steps up to the podium in your brain and you duck your head and take a quick seat at the bar, not making eye contact with anyone.

“Can I interest you in something? We have pizza, beer, pepper poppers--” Gus suggests, and you’re grateful for his ability to fill the silence because you nod. Yes, pizza sounds nice. You haven’t eaten since you left the city. Your middle is a little soft, but you deserve this pizza tonight!

The sound of idle chatter around you as Gus happily accepts your order puts you into a type of daze. You really are a bit tired from the day. Your hands are around the glass of water you hadn’t noticed Gus set in front of you, and you focus mainly on that, feeling a bit awful. You were supposed to be talking to people right now! What were you doing? You were supposed to  _ try  _ this time!

As much as you keep berating yourself, the familiar pull of anxiety keeps you in your seat. Tomorrow-- tomorrow when you go to get seeds at Pierre’s… you’ll  _ have  _ to talk to him, and maybe you’ll get introduced elsewhere and make it easy. You’ll just walk into town and maybe someone will stop you to say hi-- yeah, yeah, you’ll do that instead.

The smell fills nearly the entire saloon when the pizza is set in front of you. It’s a full pizza, actually, larger than a single-serve but definitely something that looks like it’s supposed to be shared a bit.

At your obvious surprise, Gus talks with a chuckle. “I upped the size at no charge as a sort of welcome gift. I can always box up the rest for you to take home!” He suggests, and although you think the idea is nice, you don’t own a fridge or a real kitchen in the cabin your grandfather left you, so it’s unrealistic that the pizza will otherwise last more than a few hours after this.

You thank him, and begin eating. It didn’t take you long to feel a pair of eyes constantly on you, and your third slice in you dare to look around to try and find them.

The instant you meet his eyes, he looks away. Thick brows pulled inwards and a frown etched into his cheeks as he sips from his beer, and you stare a tad too long.

“That’s Shane. He can be a bit off-putting, but please don’t hold it against him.” Gus says. “He’s from the city, too.”

You could kind of tell that he was from the city by what he was wearing-- shorts and an old hoodie and a jersey of some sort. Believe it or not, you wore the same thing nearly all the time during highschool and the few years of college you attended. It seems he just didn’t grow out of the look.

Shane catches you looking, and a particularly harsh glare is sent your way as a result and you force yourself to look back at your pizza.

You don’t feel hungry anymore, but there were still a couple slices left and you didn’t want them to go to waste.

Biting your lip and steeling your nerves, you push off your stool and make your way over to Shane, telling yourself that you had promised to make an effort, encouraged by the fact that you two had similar backgrounds from the city.

Shane notices you approaching him, and his glare is full on again and it nearly turns you away, always the non-confrontational type. But you needed to  _ try,  _ to go to bed tonight knowing you took a step forward out of your comfort zone and  _ tried. _

You’re standing in front of him, and he’s not meeting your eyes anymore, choosing to sip his beer aggressively instead as if your mere presence and attention were too much for him to tolerate.

“Hey, I’m--” You start, but you don’t get farther than that when his eyes land on you and he speaks.

“I don’t know you.” He says, matter-of-factly. “Why are you talking to me?” And it’s a rhetorical question, sarcasm laced heavily in his voice.

Everything about you falters, and parts of you crumble. He stares at you, watching you open and close your mouth to say something, and stares at the way you wring your hands together anxiously, and he looks unimpressed.

“I just thought I’d-- I’d let you know--” You start, stopping yourself, but now he’s not looking at you again, acting as though you weren’t even there.

Being ignored, you could handle. With a bit more control, confident that he wasn’t even listening to you, you speak again.

“There’s some leftover pizza where I sat. You can have it if you want. I can’t take it home.” Short sentences, to-the-point, and you look away too fast to notice the slant of his eyebrows change at your words.

The walk back to your home in the dark is a bit terrifying, but your thoughts are filled up with how that conversation (or lack thereof) could’ve gone much better, and what you could’ve done differently, or--

Anxiety keeps you up at night, and it sounds a lot like Shane.

**Author's Note:**

> A measly first chapter, but I was pressed for time and I really just wanted to get it started to build up my motivation to keep it going. The Male Player(TM) is trans-male in this fic, but it isn't really a huge thing lol. Rating will change with chapters added! We'll get to smooch Shane at some point!
> 
> Thank you for reading! Leave a comment if you would give Shane all the love and appreciation he deserves.


End file.
